Ubisoft announces its first Black Game Pros Mixer for the UK games industry

Ubisoft has today announced the first UK Black Game Pros Mixer to be held on Friday December 11th from 3pm to 6pm GMT.

The online event, which is being held in Europe for the first time, will be hosted by co-founders Kurston Timothy, Development Tester at Ubisoft Toronto and Leon Winkler, Ubisoft Director of International Events.

It will feature panels, keynotes and interviews with some of the UK games industry’s most successful black professionals.  Tickets for the free event will be available from this link.

Participants will include the likes of Mr Midas, an award-winning presenter and content producer here in the UK who has hosted for esports TV channel Ginx TV and esports events including District G FGC events, Insomnia and more.

Ubisoft says the mission of The Black Game Pros Mixer is to generate and foster more representation and diversity in the broader video game industry. 

The events aim to facilitate networking and dialogue with relevant speakers as well as shine a light on under-represented job profiles, in order to demonstrate the ‘many pathways for people of colour to enter and thrive within the industry’.

Ubisoft’s Leon Winkler said: “It’s our goal to reach out to and actively engage with communities representing people of colour to show off how viable and diverse the opportunities within our industry are.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming some of the most inspiring British professionals to contribute to this by sharing their experiences and knowledge about the UK industry, covering topics that are meaningful for both themselves and our community.”

Ahead of The Black Game Pros Mixer – UK Edition, Ubisoft will be hosting another edition of the event for those working in the African games industry on December 3rd, in partnership with the FEJA game event.

The full speaker line-up

KEYNOTES

• Chella Ramanan, Jr Narrative Designer at Ubisoft Massive – How did I get into the Industry?
• Sian-Selina Grant, Partnerships Manager at Newzoo – Data and the UK Gaming Industry

PANELS

• Breaking into the UK Games Industry: including panelists Rosemary Buahin (Games Category Lead, Xbox UK and Ireland), Lauren Dillon (Sr. Account Director at Premier PR London) and Adam Campbell (Director of product at Azoomee and founder of POC in Play) – Moderated by Leon Winkler
• Being and staying successful in the UK Gaming Industry: with Stephanie Ijoma (founder of NNESAGA), Marcus Bronzy (award winning presenter) and Timi-Abajomi Ofarn (co-founder of The Nerd Council) – Moderated by Kurston Timothy
• Making the Industry truly diverse: including panelists such as Mr Midas (award winning Video Game TV Presenter and Content Producer) and Nigel Twumasi (co-founder of Mayamada – The World’s First Manga Network) – Moderated by Kurston Timothy

INTERVIEWS

• Mr Midas (Interviewed by Leon Winkler)
• Stephanie Ijoma (Interviewed by Leon Winkler)

You can sign up to the Black Game Pros Mixer – UK edition – here.

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.